Syrian Army Agrees to Food Aid Deliveries to Starving Madaya (Video)
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/syrian_army_lets_food_aid_into_starving_
madaya_video_20160110/
Posted on Jan 10, 2016
By Juan Cole
This post originally ran on Truthdig contributor Juan Cole’s website.
France24 Arabic reports that the Syrian government agreed Thursday to allow
humanitarian aid into Madaya and two other besieged towns near the Lebanese
border northwest of Damascus. The step was praised by the United Nations.
The siege of Madaya, pop 40,000, has been going on for two years. It and
Zabadani are Sunni Arab population areas that joined the rebellion against
the regime of Bashar al-Assad. However, as the struggle turned into civil
war, the fighters were radicalized. The towns became divided into quarters,
some of which supported the Nusra Front (Syrian al-Qaeda) while others
supported the Syrian Freemen (Ahrar al-Sham). The two hard line Salafi
jihadi groups have a visceral hate for Shiites. Fear that they would make
incursions into Lebanon brought Hizbullah across the border to join the
siege. The location of the towns also makes them a threat to the capital.
When pressed on the starvation tactics, Hizbullah maintained that the 600
armed terrorists in Madaya have taken the town hostage and is primarily
responsible for the plight of the townspeople.
In other words, Hizbullah has brazenly stolen from Israel the “terrorists
are using human shields” argument!
On the other hand, Hizbullah’s allegation is correct that Shiite towns in
Idlib are also under similar sieges. But two wrongs don’t make a right.
The war in Syria is horrible. Among the warring sides, there is no longer
much to choose from. The 600 mostly Salafi fighters in Madaya, some large
proportion of whom went over to al-Qaeda, aren’t very sympathetic from an
American point of view.
But the children in Madaya and the non-combatants don’t deserve to be
starving. It might make the war go faster if you starve out the guerrillas,
but it is a war crime to do that to innocents.
Good that the regime and Hizbullah finally relented. But they should do
more, they should let all the non-combatants leave who want to leave. The
reports are that they are shooting those who try to depart.
BBC Monitoring reported on Jan. 4, based on Arabic press sources:
“Residents of the Syrian city of Madaya - near Damascus are starving to
death, pan-Arab and local social media sources are saying.
Madaya is located close to the city of Al-Zabadani which was part of a
multi-phase truce agreement between the Syrian government and armed
opposition forces. The second phase of the agreement, which also included
Madaya was supposed to allow aid into the besieged areas.
On 2 January, Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV broadcast a video report showing
images of people who it said suffered severe weight loss and death due in
the areas of Madaya, Al-Zabadani and nearby town of Buqayn which “seems to
be paying the price of its strategic location between Damascus and Beirut”.
The report said that given that their pleas for help were not answered,
“the people were forced to eat tree leaves, garbage and even dogs and cats
meat”. It added that the months-long government siege of the city is not
allowing in even children’s milk.
News of at least two people dying out of huger and lack of food supplies was
also reported by several media outlets.
Paris-based independent Syrian Rozana FM website quoted activists inside the
city as saying that “two of Madaya residents had died due to severe cold
and hunger”. It added that the snow and low temperature seen in Syria in
the past couple of days “made the situation worse”.
On 3 January, Turkey-based Huffington Post in Arabic website quoted an
activist in Madaya as saying that “the price of one kilogram of rice has
reached over 100 US dollars.”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), even those who
try to save their life by fleeing the city are being shot dead on their way
out. On 4 January, the SOHR website said that three civilians -including a
pregnant woman and her child- were shot dead by the government and Lebanese
Hezbollah forces as they were “trying to get out of the town”. SOHR added
that the death of the three “raises the total number of people who died in
the city since the start of the siege to at least 23″. It listed
explosions, sniper fire, poor sanitary conditions and the lack of food and
necessary treatment as causes for the deaths.
The dire situation in Madaya prompted social media activists to launch the
Arabic hashtag #Madaya to shed light on the plight of its inhabitants. The
hashtag was used over 25,000 times in five days. . .”
“Al-Madaya plight also raised calls for vengeance as the Islamic Judge of
the alliance of Jaysh al-Fath, which includes Al-Qa’idah-linked Al-Nusrah
Front and Islamist Ahrar al-Sham Movement, posted a series of tweets on 2
January to call for the destruction of the Shi’i populated village Al-Fu’
ah in Idlib countryside if the siege on Madaya is not lifted.
An agreement between the Syrian opposition and the government, as well as
Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, to ease the siege on the opposition in the
strategic town of Al-Zabadani and Madaya in southern Syria near the Lebanese
border in exchange for the opposition doing the same for the two Shi’i
villages, Al-Fu’ah and Kufrayah in the northwestern province of Idlib was
announced last summer. Implementation of the deal reportedly started late
December though.”
http://www.truthdig.com/ http://www.truthdig.com/
Syrian Army Agrees to Food Aid Deliveries to Starving Madaya (Video)
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/syrian_army_lets_food_aid_into_starving_
madaya_video_20160110/
Posted on Jan 10, 2016
By Juan Cole
This post originally ran on Truthdig contributor Juan Cole’s website.
France24 Arabic reports that the Syrian government agreed Thursday to allow
humanitarian aid into Madaya and two other besieged towns near the Lebanese
border northwest of Damascus. The step was praised by the United Nations.
The siege of Madaya, pop 40,000, has been going on for two years. It and
Zabadani are Sunni Arab population areas that joined the rebellion against
the regime of Bashar al-Assad. However, as the struggle turned into civil
war, the fighters were radicalized. The towns became divided into quarters,
some of which supported the Nusra Front (Syrian al-Qaeda) while others
supported the Syrian Freemen (Ahrar al-Sham). The two hard line Salafi
jihadi groups have a visceral hate for Shiites. Fear that they would make
incursions into Lebanon brought Hizbullah across the border to join the
siege. The location of the towns also makes them a threat to the capital.
When pressed on the starvation tactics, Hizbullah maintained that the 600
armed terrorists in Madaya have taken the town hostage and is primarily
responsible for the plight of the townspeople.
In other words, Hizbullah has brazenly stolen from Israel the “terrorists
are using human shields” argument!
On the other hand, Hizbullah’s allegation is correct that Shiite towns in
Idlib are also under similar sieges. But two wrongs don’t make a right.
The war in Syria is horrible. Among the warring sides, there is no longer
much to choose from. The 600 mostly Salafi fighters in Madaya, some large
proportion of whom went over to al-Qaeda, aren’t very sympathetic from an
American point of view.
But the children in Madaya and the non-combatants don’t deserve to be
starving. It might make the war go faster if you starve out the guerrillas,
but it is a war crime to do that to innocents.
Good that the regime and Hizbullah finally relented. But they should do
more, they should let all the non-combatants leave who want to leave. The
reports are that they are shooting those who try to depart.
BBC Monitoring reported on Jan. 4, based on Arabic press sources:
“Residents of the Syrian city of Madaya - near Damascus are starving to
death, pan-Arab and local social media sources are saying.
Madaya is located close to the city of Al-Zabadani which was part of a
multi-phase truce agreement between the Syrian government and armed
opposition forces. The second phase of the agreement, which also included
Madaya was supposed to allow aid into the besieged areas.
On 2 January, Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV broadcast a video report showing
images of people who it said suffered severe weight loss and death due in
the areas of Madaya, Al-Zabadani and nearby town of Buqayn which “seems to
be paying the price of its strategic location between Damascus and Beirut”.
The report said that given that their pleas for help were not answered,
“the people were forced to eat tree leaves, garbage and even dogs and cats
meat”. It added that the months-long government siege of the city is not
allowing in even children’s milk.
News of at least two people dying out of huger and lack of food supplies was
also reported by several media outlets.
Paris-based independent Syrian Rozana FM website quoted activists inside the
city as saying that “two of Madaya residents had died due to severe cold
and hunger”. It added that the snow and low temperature seen in Syria in
the past couple of days “made the situation worse”.
On 3 January, Turkey-based Huffington Post in Arabic website quoted an
activist in Madaya as saying that “the price of one kilogram of rice has
reached over 100 US dollars.”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), even those who
try to save their life by fleeing the city are being shot dead on their way
out. On 4 January, the SOHR website said that three civilians -including a
pregnant woman and her child- were shot dead by the government and Lebanese
Hezbollah forces as they were “trying to get out of the town”. SOHR added
that the death of the three “raises the total number of people who died in
the city since the start of the siege to at least 23″. It listed
explosions, sniper fire, poor sanitary conditions and the lack of food and
necessary treatment as causes for the deaths.
The dire situation in Madaya prompted social media activists to launch the
Arabic hashtag #Madaya to shed light on the plight of its inhabitants. The
hashtag was used over 25,000 times in five days. . .”
“Al-Madaya plight also raised calls for vengeance as the Islamic Judge of
the alliance of Jaysh al-Fath, which includes Al-Qa’idah-linked Al-Nusrah
Front and Islamist Ahrar al-Sham Movement, posted a series of tweets on 2
January to call for the destruction of the Shi’i populated village Al-Fu’
ah in Idlib countryside if the siege on Madaya is not lifted.
An agreement between the Syrian opposition and the government, as well as
Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, to ease the siege on the opposition in the
strategic town of Al-Zabadani and Madaya in southern Syria near the Lebanese
border in exchange for the opposition doing the same for the two Shi’i
villages, Al-Fu’ah and Kufrayah in the northwestern province of Idlib was
announced last summer. Implementation of the deal reportedly started late
December though.”
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